Tag: healthy eating

One of my favourite Sunday Breakfast is Overnight Baked French Toast. Whenever I have got left over bread I can’t wait to make this yummy recipe. So I told myself why not share I make it. It’s super easy l promise.

You can add your favourite ingredients as this recipe is so versatile.

This is left over homade seeded that I tore into bite sizes.

I whisked all the ingredients and poured into the pan then topped with fruits, oats which I sprinkled on to finish.

It will look a bit wet out of the oven (depending on the type of bread) but give it about 10 minutes to cool before serving. As the bread I used was wholemeal it took longer to bake, as it is wholemeal flour is heavier than white flour.

This is how I served mine – sliced plums and peaches topped with natural yogurt, sunflower seeds and agave. But you serve yours with maple syrup, honey or sprinkle brown sugar with chocolate chips. The list is endless, try yourself you deserve it.

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OVEN BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients

Day old or stale bread – torn into pieces

Cinnamon

Sugar or sweetner if preferred.

Method

Preheat 350c, 180f or gas mark 4. Grease ovenproof dish with oil or butter, add torn bread. Whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over the bread, cover in a cling film (plastic wrap) and refrigerate overnight.

The following morning, remove the cling film and bake in the oven for 20-35 minutes, depending on the kind of bread you use. Serve with yogurt poured on toast, finish by drizzling with honey or maple syrup, chopped nuts or flaked almonds, if liked.

As you all know I have been gushing about Super Foods for a while now. There is never going to be an
end to new, unique and sometimes weird (to some) recipes. Neither, am l going to stop researching or buying the latest good cookbooks well it will be a shame not to really, lol. Anyway, I will stop wuffling and get straight to the point as time is precious due to the busyness of life.

I came across a new word in one of my cookbooks by a very well known female English Chef, I am not going to tell you her name as I don’t want to advertise her book for free. Others get paid for reviews but I won’t unless of course her people decide to get in touch with my people, etc. Right back to my point, the recipe is actually a twist on the famous Mexican dip, Guacamole. It’s a combination of broccoli, avocado, spring onions, lime, olive and vegetable oils blended together. And the name is, drum roll please – Brocamole. Some people may have heard of it but I certainly have not.

However, I forgot to add spring onions – The downside to multi tasking. Actually , I am glad I didn’t because I am having it for lunch later today, I don’t exactly want onion breath even though I do have toothbrush and toothpaste at work, thing is I may not have time to clean my teeth afterwards as I have a busy day ahead or I will simply forget. I am not having my Brocamole with crudités as is tradition, I have decided to do something different, I am going with bread. I have sliced it into soldiers for easy dipping, I will be trying it out as a sandwich spread as well. The good thing about this dip is that you can actually freeze it. I will be shopping for ingredients this weekend then freeze in batches of small plastic containers – just the right portion.

Method.
Boil the broccoli for 3 minutes in hot boiling water. Drain, add ice water to the pot. Leave to cool.
In the meantime chop spring onions, cut lime in half.
Once broccoli is cold, put in food processor, blitz for seconds with oils.
Add spring onions squeeze lime juice then blitz to your preferred taste.
Season and serve.

I have to given word for word instructions from the book as I know you get the idea, besides I don’t really follow measurements as I am only cooking for myself, not 4 or 10 people as stated in most of these cookbooks. Oh, here is a clue to the author – Domestic Goddess. See my version below

I decided to go on a 3 day detox last month. I did it last year but that was rather intense and I ended up with a migraine for days so having learnt my lesson I opted for a softer ‘version’.
My breakfast was a combo of greens and fruits in the berry family plus frozen banana to give it that slushy look, using my new blender with its on the go bottle. To give my smoothies a bit of kick I added ginger, alternating with cinnamon. I am not into energy powders so I put in sunflower and flax seeds instead, finishing with oats using soya milk as my mixture of choice. I did add almond butter on the last day just to see how it would work, it was even more delicious.
Mid-Morning – I had a handful of seeds or brazil nuts
Lunch was salads, oat and rice cakes with hummus.
Drinks – I had green tea and water through out.
Mid Afternoon – I didn’t have anything as I am not into snacking.
Dinner – Ribbon Courgettes or Aubergines with mushrooms, chopped fresh tomatoes, sweet potatoes. Lean chicken with veggies

I drank hot lemon water first thing, which I found really refreshing. I have now incorporated that it into my daily routine, although I do forget sometimes as I am rushing to work. I will definitely be doing this again, I felt very cleansed, lost a few inches around my tummy area, overall my skin felt great, most importantly there were no side effect

I opted for gentle short workouts as I didn’t have the energy to do my regular intense routines. Following from the results of my detox I have decided to start drinking detox water at the weekends. I have tried strawberries, orange slices for a bit of colour. I alternated by going green using mint, lemon and cucumber topped with ice. I am sticking with the latter as its really cooling and very refreshing I felt cleansed on the inside as well. Detox water works better with bottled or distilled water – tap water is a no, no because of the chemicals.

I may detox every month after the satisfied results, not necessarily 3 days, I can do a 24 hour to 48 hour detox.

As I am not one to go by hearsay but research I have been doing a lot of online researches in my continuous quest to remain healthy for the rest of my life. After looking at my sites I have decided to base my findings on the most reliable source I can trust, my country’s Health Service, commonly known as the NHS – National Health Service. The extract from one of the articles states Fibre ‘can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and some cancers …’ You can read more about this very short but informative article (the Importance of Fibre) by visiting their website.http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1141.aspx?categoryid=51
Having done a number of online searches the top foods I found were: wholemeal bread, barley, broccoli, red sweet pepper, nectarine, peanuts, orange, beans, wholemeal/grain cereals, dates. The list is inconclusive, as our bodies are different then there are health issues to take in to consideration especially those with bowel syndrome there are certain foods that are not allowed. Please always remember to consult your doctor or Nutritionist or Dietician before making changes to your eating habits.
Another useful article which gives a breakdown of the foods high in fibre and how much should be eaten in day.http://www.lnds.nhs.uk/Library/Dietaryadviceforincreasingyourfibreintake.pdf

I started using the built in Health and fitness app on my new phone. It has definitely got me back on track, I use the pedometer and have done a lot of walking as a result. I smashed my goal two days in a roll this week. I am not sure if I am mentioned in one of my last posts that I may have to join a gym as I am no longer motivated to exercise at home. Unfortunately, finding the right/affordable gym and time is proving to be very difficult. I want to take up running but I have to constantly remind myself it’s a high impact exercise which is not good for my recovering left knee perhaps I should just do it but once a week for say half an hour. I will have to motivate myself I suppose but I am going to try and get back to my aerobics I can’t be inactive for too long or I will never get round to exercising properly again. Granted I take 11 flights of stairs at work, never use the lift, walk at lunchtime it is just not enough for me.

I still weigh the same but that is only because I eat healthily as always. I need to get my body ready for the summer so I have got no choice but to start exercising properly again, I can’t show off bongo arms. I had a health screen this week and came out tops, everything in ship shape so I am chuffed about that but I can’t get complacent and don’t plan to. I am going to a Health Food show tomorrow hoping to pick up a few tips, etc. I will keep you posted.

As stated in my last entry I went on a 2 day green smoothie detox/cleanse. Boy, what an experience that was. Here is the low down – Green smoothie for breakfast and lunch. The ‘ingredients; kale, kiwi, avocado, coconut water, cucumber, broccoli, dried ginger for a bit of a kick, the contents were alternated for lunch so it wasn’t too boring. For mid-day snacks I had sliced cucumber & carrots. Dinner was grilled chicken & fish (1st & 2nd days) with green salad with a bit of mushrooms. I have never eaten so many veggies in my life. I am glad I was home to do the routine because the side effects were not great; fatigue, hunger pangs, serious cravings for all the things I won’t normally eat and worst of all were the headaches! This actually led to me taking time off work it got so bad I could barely see. I realised I did go to the extreme hence the side effects.

Lessons learnt;

Ease into detox gradually, in other words, do a pre-detox so my body doesn’t get the shock of its life

Make sure there is ‘real’ food in between especially lunch

Know my body and what it can take.

Will I do it again, yes but not to the extreme I will probably do it once a month for a day or two. On a positive note it actually worked, I shred the pounds I was aiming for so it wasn’t exactly a waste of time after all. Detox is a quick way to shred those ‘unnecessary’ pounds but I won’t recommend it long term. Downside is you may put it back on again, I will say that detox is exactly what it is – flush out the toxins, I feel lighter. I have gradually eased myself back into normal food, I have decided to go for a week without coffee starting this weekend, just water & herbal tea, nothing drastic I promise, lol.